Monday, January 05, 2009

Hallelujah. Again.

Driving home yesterday afternoon, we listened to the top 40 on Radio 1.  As 'Hallelujah' is still no. 1, I listened to it all the way through for the first time.  I have three specific complaints about it:
  1. It's overdone.  The music and the lyrics have enough emotion.  You don't need to emphasise every word.  And - I don't really know enough technical music language to describe this really - the amount of build up around "a cold and broken hallelujah" really makes me think she just doesn't get it.
  2. What is the deal with a backing choir?  This is a song about being on your own, not about having a full gospel choir to keep you company at all times.
  3. She missed a verse.  Yes, just missed out a whole verse.
I would rather this cover had got to no. 1.  At least it does something different with it which isn't just 'making it worse'.  And it's funny.

It's January 5th and I have to go back to work.  I'm not sure whether 'll get used to this.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Missing out verses is probably allowed, since even Leonard Cohen had 2 completely different versions, and of the (alleged) 15 verses everone leaves some out.

Anonymous said...

Song version 1.
http://leonardcohenfiles.com/album8.html#61
Song version 2.
http://leonardcohenfiles.com/album11.html##G

That totals 8, or 16 verses depending on how you count it...! No idea how you get 15.

Fat Roland said...

The X Factor is one long hymn to over-singing.

Or I should have said:

The X Faaaahctor is one loo-ooong hymn, oh, to oooooh-ver siii-aaah-aaaaiiiieeee-iiiing.. [breathe, glance to camera] ...IIIIIIINNNGGG!

9/10ths Full of Penguins said...

Apparently, there are up to 80 different verses out there....

I'd be interested to hear some of them.

Christian Feminist said...

I like it. Happy New Year by the way!

Tim F said...

When John Cale first decided to do a version of Hallelujah (still, IMHO, the best one), he asked Cohen to send him a definitive version; the onslaught only stopped when Cale's fax machine ran out of paper. I think that's where the '80 verses' story came from, although I don't know if anyone's actually counted them.

Merlin said...

Oh thank you for that version. Wonderful. And yes she does completely overdo it (which JLS did not), and no, she so does not get the song.

And everyone ahs a favourite, but if you want your heart torn out watch West Wing third season finale